What to Look for to Find Quality Local SEO Services?

Finding quality local SEO means finding SEO groups local to the area. Many “local” groups are simply located nearby in the same state, or else on the same coast, or sometimes merely in the same country. This isn’t what you’re looking for. If you want Los Angeles SEO, you’ll want to look for an SEO Company started in Los Angeles. The following are three things to look for beyond simple location for finding an ideal local SEO firm.

Reputation

The first thing to look for is reputation. SEO firms come and go quickly. A lot of groups don’t have the chops for it. A lot more think it’s an easy way to get some money out of people trying to get their businesses off the ground. You don’t want to be stuck with either. Look for groups that have been around for a long time and developed great clientele. If they have solid histories, they’re more likely to provide solid services, and all-but-assured to provide compensation for unsuccessful service.

Communication

The next thing to look for is communication. Local SEO firms thrive on their ability to communicate with their customers and their community. You want to look for SEO firms that are easy to call on the phone or drop an e-mail to. You want SEO firms that have a social media presence. Merely having a Facebook page to like isn’t enough: they should be engaged and actively cultivating the interest of their audience. If an SEO firm isn’t putting itself out there for marketing purposes, there’s little reason to think they can do the same for you. If you’re doing local SEO for a local business, look to see if you can’t get in touch with them face-to-face. If you can’t, don’t worry about it. This isn’t always possible, and it isn’t a red flag if you can’t. However, it can be a very good sign if an SEO expert is willing to meet with and work with you face-to-face over lunch or similar.

Whitehat SEO

Finally, always look for SEO experts who rely solely on whitehat tactics. Blackhat SEO tactics tend to work for short periods of time, but they’ll see your website tanked in the rankings over a longer period of time. Even blackhat gurus don’t try to boast about the longevity of blackhat tactics. Some of the most common tactics in use are cloaking and the use of link networks. Cloaking shows search engines and users two different pages. The page shown to users is readable, while the page shown to search engines is not. This obviates the actual value of the content to search engines, which are trying increasingly harder to identify good content to present. Link networks are particularly dangerous because they will show almost immediate increases in search ranking. These can continue for some months, but when the link network is inevitably identified and taken down, your rankings will tank. Be sure you have your local SEO experts explain what exactly they plan to do. If it doesn’t sound completely above-board, don’t go with them.

Finding quality local SEO isn’t impossible, but it takes a little knowhow about the SEO market and the techniques employed. Once you understand what to look for, finding a local SEO expert for your local business is relatively simple. Just take your time and do your homework!